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Cleveland Clinic launches $2 billion fundraising campaign

Cleveland Clinic

The Cleveland Clinic is launching an ambitious $2 billion fundraising campaign, "The Power of Every One," which will raise money for construction, research and training through 2021.
(Alexander Chaitoff, The Plain Dealer)

CLEVELAND, Ohio — The Cleveland Clinic is launching a $2 billion fundraising effort, its largest to date, which will pay for building projects, training and research for the region's largest employer through its 100th anniversary in 2021.

The ambitious capital campaign, called "The Power of Every One," has already raised $600 million during a "silent" fundraising phase over the past three years. It comes on the heels of the Clinic's successful four-year $1.4 billion campaign, which ended in December 2010 after exceeding its $1.25 billion goal.

Armando Chardiet, recruited by the Clinic from the University of Pennsylvania Medical School in 2010 to become Philanthropy Institute chairman, acknowledges the campaign goal is a lofty one, but said the health system is up to the challenge.

"While it's an aggressive goal, it's an achievable one for the Cleveland Clinic," he said, and one that will be aided by a large fundraising campaign staff and 120 volunteers.

"I think the priorities that we've set will resonate with our donors and individuals that care about the Cleveland Clinic, and I think the need is there," Chardiet said, referring to falling hospital income nationwide due to changes in reimbursement policy brought on by the Affordable Care Act and other recent changes to the healthcare landscape.

"As healthcare costs escalate and reimbursements decline, philanthropy is more crucial than ever," Clinic CEO Toby Cosgrove said in a statement. "The Centennial Campaign will allow Cleveland Clinic to build on our commitment to innovation, to provide the means for sophisticated technology and world-class facilities, and to deliver the highest quality healthcare to more people in more places. It will make the difference between good care and great care."

Last week, Cosgrove ended speculation that he might be considering leaving the Clinic to become secretary of veterans affairs, after the White House approached him about the recently vacated position.

The new fundraising campaign will be co-chaired by Clinic board members Larry Pollock and Stewart Kohl, who both lead private investment firms.

The $2 billion will be distributed to four areas:

Promoting Health: $800 million

Construction of new cancer and neurology buildings on the main campus that are slated to begin within the next year, renovation of the Taussig Cancer Institute building and expansion of the Cole Eye Institute on the main campus, an expansion of the Richard E. Jacobs Health Center in Avon to include an inpatient hospital tower, building projects at regional hospitals and family health centers, and construction projects in Florida.

Training Caregivers: $400 million

For scholarships, staff training, and the construction of a new medical education building on the Clinic's main campus, a joint venture with Case Western Reserve University. The new building, scheduled to break ground this fall on the northeast corner of East 93rd Street and Euclid Avenue, will provide 165,000 square feet of space for two programs now housed apart – the original medical education offering on the CWRU campus, and the 12-year-old Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine.

"I'm doing this because I really truly believe in the mission of the Cleveland Clinic," said Pollock, managing partner of Lucky Stars Partners, a private investment firm. Pollock has served on the Clinic's Board of Directors since 2008. "As a former retailer I'm used to looking through the eyes of the customer, and I've been so impressed with how Clinic is always looking at things through the eyes of the patient. It's a great mission."

The "Power of Every One" campaign was so named to emphasize the importance of individual donors, regardless of the amount pledged, Chardiet said.

"We want to make sure that the person who can make a $1 contribution feels just as important as the person who can make a $1 million contribution."

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